Leon County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Leon County: 0.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 4, 2011Wildfire, Leon$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Concord-Robbins Fire was started on the 4th, contained on the 7th, and fully controlled on the 11th. It burned a total of 4689 acres within an area bordered by FM 39 to the east, FM 1147 to the west and Highway 7 to the north. The fire burned 31 homes, several more sheds and outbuildings, and some farm equipment.

2. Jun 21, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst and straight-line winds caused considerable damage along a line from south of Fairfield in Freestone County to Buffalo in Leon County. Notable, consistent tree damage was observed along Interstate 45 with large trees uprooted. Along SH 164 west of Buffalo but just inside the Freestone County line, four electrical tower trusses were collapsed. In and around Buffalo, considerable tree damage was noted including large limbs that fell on roofs. Billboards were damaged, at least one hotel roof was damaged, and many other structures suffered roof damage. Additional information about the damage in Freestone is explained in the Freestone County entry.

3. Jul 14, 2007Flash Flood$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High water damaged FM 1146 and CR 339. FM 1146 was completely washed out just past Mill Creek Road, and the culverts on CR 339 were washed out and had to be replaced. The repairs for FM 1146 cost $223,357.

4. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Leon$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were felled and power outages occurred in and around Normangee, Marquez, Concord, Jewett, Buffalo, and Centerville due to T.S. Ike. A tree clipped the corner of the Concord Post office as it fell and numerous roads were unpassable due to downed trees. A home was damaged in Jewett by a falling tree. In Buffalo, trees and large limbs were blown down and in some cases damaged houses and barns. The gates of Centerville High School were blown down and the marquee was also damaged. A limb also fell onto one of the school buses. The Emergency Coordinator for the county stated that 511 out of 523 power lines were downed during the storm. Winds were estimated between 35 and…

5. Aug 12, 2011Wildfire, Leon$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fire #695 burned 6 acres approximately 3 miles west of Centerville. The fire burned a 2-story house and a shed. The fire was started by debris burning.

6. Oct 27, 2013Heavy Rain$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall totaling 2-4 inches caused the Normangee ISD drain pipes to back up, flooding Normangee Middle School's multipurpose building. The library, counselor's office and the technology coordinator's office received the most damage. The front foyer area in the gym also had standing water and some of the floor boards in the gym were damaged. The carpet in the library and some of the low sheet rock had to be replaced.

7. Dec 13, 2015Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding continued across Leon County after another round of heavy rain produced several more inches of rain across the county. Some flooding was still ongoing from the first round of heavy rain the night before and was exacerbated by this second round of heavy rain. Several roads were closed across the county including the access roads along Interstate 45 in some locations. Some roads were washed out including a large portion of CR 393 northeast of Concord as reported on social media. Significant flooding along creeks and streams occurred. Pictures of flooding along Bliss Creek southeast of Buffalo and Brushy Creek near Marquez were shared on social media. Brushy Creek near…

8. May 6, 2025Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado touched down west of Jewett near CR 336 and Division Street, and moved east-southeast through the town before traveling east several miles outside of town. In Jewett, several trees were damaged or blown down and some homes suffered roof and minor exterior damage on Harrison Street, Dashiel Street, and Broadway Street. The worst damage occurred along Hwy 79 where an auto repair shop lost its roof, and east of Hwy 79 where many trees were snapped and uprooted near Robinson Lane. This area was rated EF-1 with 105 mph max winds. Visually, tree damage could be seen extending east of Robinson Lane, but the area was inaccessible to the survey team. However, satellite…

9. Feb 15, 2021Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Leon$79,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extreme cold gripped the county for several days. Overnight lows were near or below 25 degrees Fahrenheit almost all week. The period of February 15-16th was the coldest with low temperatures in the single digits and slightly below zero degrees Fahrenheit. The maximum temperature on the 15th was only in the teens. Wind chill values during the 14th-16th were between 10 to -10 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time. The cold temperatures resulted in an extreme amount of damage to pipes, infrastructure, and power. The State listed 1 fatality in Leon County due to the winter storm but no additional information could be obtained.

10. Apr 18, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A large swatch of damaging winds moved across Leon County. Damage to a single-wide manufactured home south of Farm to Market (FM) 1618 occurred as the structure was rolled once to the east by the damaging winds. Two occupants were injured here and one individual was ejected from the structure. The peak wind associated with displacing this structure from its foundation was around 85 mph. Farther to the east, a single family residence suffered noteworthy roof damage consistent with 90 mph wind gusts near the community of Flo. In addition, discussion with the inhabitants revealed that nearly a dozen trees on the residence property had been either snapped or uprooted and required…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 26, 1954

All-time low

−1°FDec 24, 2022

Warmest night

87°F2 times, most recently Aug 15, 1951

Coldest day

16°F4 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Wettest day

8.50 inOct 14, 1957

Snowiest day

5.3 inJan 22, 1940

Hottest year

1939mean 69.0°F

Coldest year

1976mean 63.5°F

Wettest year

202462.82 in

Driest year

196323.89 in

Station Centerville (USC00411596), 320 ft elevation, 4.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1937 to October 18, 2026; 96.6% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00411596.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.